X2 and X3 not starting properly on Win7 - Resolved in compatibility mode but not sure how.

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HashtagMC
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X2 and X3 not starting properly on Win7 - Resolved in compatibility mode but not sure how.

Post by HashtagMC » Thu, 5. Jan 23, 19:08

Cheers,

started playing X3 again the other day from my laptop while travelling. Worked like a charm (Ubuntu 20.04, for the record). Came back home, wanted to play on my big rig, installed X3 - doesn't start.

I've got it on Steam. I click play, Steam launches the game, says it's running, the process shows up in the task manager, but no window does. I've verified file integrity, I've tried the skipintro launch parameter (thinking it might just be the settings window not showing up) - nothing. I tried running it in compatibility mode for XP, neither.

So I figured, screw that, X2 was always my favourite anyway, and went and tried that. Same issue. Both times, I have to stop the game from the Steam interface; I've tried letting it run for a few minutes, but no window ever shows up. Which is odd, because I distinctly remember playing both; I put almost 200 hours into X2 and before last week, around 40 or 50 into X3.

Any ideas? I can't help but notice the irony of it running flawlessly on often-dismissed Linux but failing on Windows, but I'd really prefer playing comfortably at my desk than on my notebook. Any help would be much appreciated.

Details/specs:
Win7 64bit
up-to-date Steam
i5-4570
RX 580 8 GB
16 GB RAM

The only change between now and the last time it worked is the GPU (previously: GTX 750 (Ti?)) and an increase in memory. Operating system and everything else is the same.
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Alan Phipps
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Re: X2 and X3 not starting properly on Win7

Post by Alan Phipps » Thu, 5. Jan 23, 20:52

Have you tried running the games in earlier OS compatibility modes? Remember that the X2/X3 game engine is from the XP OS era. Try running them in supervisor mode too.

You might also find something useful in this Win10 thread.
A dog has a master; a cat has domestic staff.

HashtagMC
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Re: X2 and X3 not starting properly on Win7

Post by HashtagMC » Thu, 5. Jan 23, 22:43

I set it to XP SP3 mode (had already tried SP2 mode earlier), didn't work, turned off compatibility again, started working. I don't see how or why, but here we are. I figure your solution worked, if in mysterious ways xD thanks
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HashtagMC
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Re: X2 and X3 not starting properly on Win7 - Resolved in compatibility mode but not sure how.

Post by HashtagMC » Sun, 8. Jan 23, 20:02

Aaaand it's broken again. Had to repeat the same steps (set to compatibility mode, fail to run, uncheck again, run then) again. No idea why or if that fixes it. Weird AF.

And it also keeps crashing mid-game (like, once every thirty minutes to an hour) for no discernible reason. Can't find any logs (does it log?) to go into that.
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Alan Phipps
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Re: X2 and X3 not starting properly on Win7 - Resolved in compatibility mode but not sure how.

Post by Alan Phipps » Sun, 8. Jan 23, 21:26

Unfortunately, the unsupported legacy Win7 does not have Windows Error Reporting at the end of its inbuilt DxDiag. The only way you might find information is to scour EventViewer for critical and serious errors at around the date and time of your issues. The linked FAQ is for general guidance only and is not applicable in every way here.
A dog has a master; a cat has domestic staff.

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